My Brave Pony: The Heart of the World

by Scipio Smith

The Search Begins

The Search Begins

"Twilight?" Lightning said sharply, his voice rising. "Twilight, can you hear me?"

"We've lost them, your highness," murmured Lily. "The signal went dead at their end."

Lightning Dawn closed his eyes, as he rested his hooves upon the table. "I see," he sighed, bowing his head. So close. So close.

To her hear voice again… after he and Krysta had fallen, even after they had survived the ordeal of the void for a second time he had never dreamed that he would… Krysta still believed, or at least she made out as though she did. Krysta kept faith, kept talking about when they found Equestria again, when they could go back… Lightning had done everything to tell her that, in all likelihood, they would never go back, short of actually telling her that they would never go back. And yet, through it all, through Lightning rejoining the Solar Legion and heading off into the field again, Krysta never stopped believing.

And she had been right. Because Twilight, it seemed, had not stopped believing either.

They shamed him with their constancy and their faith.

To hear her voice again. To be given that gift, to hear that sweet, angelic sound, to be so blessed once more… if only he could have seen her also.

But just to hear her was… it was so much more than he deserved.

And yet not nearly as much as he wanted.

Lightning opened his eyes, turning his head to fix them upon Lily Martagon, a knight of the Solar Legion, part of his personal lance. She was a mare, an alicorn as all knights were, with a red coat and a bright golden mane that glistened in the sunlight, and even managed to do so to an extent within the field tent in which they huddled now. Her eyes, too, were golden yellow like the pollen of the flower that bore her name, and were presently wide with sympathy. "I'm sorry, your highness," she murmured. She hesitated, then shifted one hoof across the table to touch his.

Lightning allowed the gesture. Not too long ago he would not have, perhaps more recently still he would have pulled back, but hearing Twilight's voice… he could now only think about how ridiculous – at best – she would think him for recoiling from a simple gesture of comfort and compassion.

"Did we… did we managed to get a fix on the location of the signal?" he asked. If they had, if Lily had managed that, then they would be able to find Equestria again, not just for his own sake but for the sake of all of New Olympia.

Since he had returned with news of his discovery, news that he had been to Equestria – news confirmed by Twilight herself in the message that had enabled Krysta and himself to be found – all of New Olympia had been electrified by the news; Sunset Shimmer herself had taken command of the search, spreading the battlecruisers of her Phoenix Fleet out across the stars in search of the promised planet. Lightning had dearly wished to partake in the search himself, for all that it seemed to him a hopeless one, but Sunset had claimed the right, and when the Phoenix of Tantive IV claimed the right then the wishes of Lightning Dawn counted for nothing.

Unless he could trace the signal that Twilight had sent.

Lily allowed herself a smile. "We've got a partial trace, your highness, an area only but-"

"But so much better than we had before!" Lightning cried, a laugh escaping from his lips. "Well done, Lily, well done!" He laughed again. This time… this time he would not be denied. "Get me a line to the palace, to His Ma- no, not yet."

"Not yet?" Lily repeated. "But-"

"A private channel, first, to my own quarters," Lightning declared. "Krysta is going to want to hear all about this."

---

"Please tell me that you got a trace on that," Dawn Starfall growled. "Please, tell me that you know where that signal came from!"

The soldier monitoring the comms today was an Eshothi lizardman from Eshoth VII by the name of Ru; he looked around at her, one yellow reptilian eye fixed upon her face. "A partial trace, we have an area of space."

"An area!" Dawn snapped. "An area?! I don't want an area, you useless reptile, I want a location! I want to know where she is, I want to know where-"

"Calm yourself, Dawn," the voice of Harkin, master of the Myrmidon Fleet, was as soft as his hoof upon Dawn's shoulder was firm. "I understand your impatience, but Ru deserves your praise, not your anger. Well done, Ru, had you been slower off the mark we would have been left with nothing."

Ru bowed his head. "Thank you, sir. As soon as I realised it was a communication for a prince of New Olympia-"

"Yes, that detail was very interesting," Harkin murmured, his grip on Dawn's shoulder tightening to become almost painful. "So, the rumours are true, Prince Lightning Dawn found his way to Equestria." The sibilant softness of his tone gave way to something approaching anger. No, not anger, Dawn realised: hatred. She recognised it is in his voice because it was exactly how she felt whenever she thought of Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle. To hear her voice on that transmission… Dawn had dreamed of this, and yet she had never really expected it. She had thought that when the Heart of the World had banished her from her world that she would be gone for good. Even after Harkin had promised her that they would find her home, even after he had tempted her through the enhancement procedures, nevertheless Dawn had scarcely truly believed that this chance would come. The chance to go home, the chance to see Princess Celestia, the chance to be revenged on Twilight Sparkle for everything that lying thief had ever taken from her.

Dawn squirmed out of Harkin's grip, stepping away even as she turned to face him. "Patience, you say? Patience, while we search vast empty voids of space? Patience, while for all we know New Olympia already knows exactly where Equestria is?"

"We must do the best we can with what fortune has bestowed on us," Harkin said calmly.

"If this were your home, you would not be so quick to-"

"Do not presume to tell me what I would or would not do to avenge my home!" Harkin snarled. The commander of the Myrmidons was a tall alicorn, although his race could be easily mistaken as he covered his body and his wings in a long black cloak, just as he concealed his face and eyes behind a mask of pale, bone-coloured white, so that he seemed at times a kind of deathly figure, more incarnation of mortality than mortal himself. What little of his coat was visible was iron grey, and his mane was black as night, although in one concession to appearance he ornamented it as the night ornamented itself in stars, weaving sparkling zircons through his hair to glimmer and glisten amidst the darkness.

Dawn had often suspected that Harkin was not his real name – a suspicion shared with many other pony warriors amongst the Myrmidons, who had never heard of a such a name before – but none who had such doubts ever dared ask what his true name might be.

That momentary anger, the slipping of the other mask he wore as surely as he wore a mask upon his face, was one of the reasons why.

"Forgive me my anger," Harkin begged. "I know that I shouldn't be too hard on you. After all, you have affairs to settle, and a world to protect from the ravages of the Olympian Empire. I understand. I'm sorry that you feel my sympathy has limits."

"It's-" Dawn broke off, or rather was cut off by a sudden coughing fit that wracked her body, making her back contort up and down, straining the muscles in her gut so that it seemed as though her ribs were stabbing her. There was no blood this time. Dawn was grateful for that. "It's just that, as you can see, I don't have all the time in the universe."

"Of course," Harkin murmured. "But fear not, Dawn, there is yet time enough. I will tell Governor Sylphesh that unfortunately we must terminate our contract," he chuckled, "and yet, just think Dawn, if we had not taken the governor's gold to defend Xanadu from the Olympians, if we had been here on the same world as Lightning Dawn… we might never have known, and this golden opportunity would have passed us by. Ironic, don't you think. And something of a pity, I was looking forward to winning a victory here, but needs must, we cannot delay our departure for the sake of Xanadu or one venal governor. But first, Ru, I need you to put me through to our friends in the Saturnine Dominion. I have a proposition that I think they'll find most appealing."

A smile spread across Dawn’s face. “You mean… we’re going?”

“I’m sufficiently confident in the Dominion’s answer to say that we will set off as soon as we can withdraw from this battle,” Harkin declared. “No doubt Lightning Dawn and his allies will have come as close or closer to tracing the signal than we have. Equestria has reminded the wider galaxy of its existence, that signal from Twilight Sparkle will soon drawn visitors like a corpse draws carrion birds.

“We must make haste to bring you home, Dawn, if Equestria is to be saved.”

Comments

[CalvinZilla]

Okay, this was a very fun story. I am sad to see that no one has commented on it yet, but Twilight's relationship with Lightning was very moving, the humor was good, and the action was very good. Please write the sequel soon!

[Stet709]

Another interesting read. I am 99% sure Raven is a future Twilight. There are so many clues that point to it. How she knew Pinkie, how she knew things that would happen to Twilight, specifically how she remembered the donut shop scene, limiting on who it could be, but the big one is her quote from the reprisal of the B.B.B.F.F. song
What frustrated me is that she resorts to all this sneaky, shadowy stuff and hurting ponies, yet she wonders why no one will listen to her. Maybe they might if she explained exactly what she's trying to stop, but she explains squat. I mean, it's not like Twilight's future self has warned her of future events before (see It's about Time)
Also it looks like the two students of Celestia went in different directions after they were 'disposed of'; Sunset went to Jupiter, Dawn went to Saturn, but it seems both sides are searching for Equestria, one for good, one for ill.